Ello

People often joke with me that I'd have a much easier time on the academic job market if I were anything but a white male. I do appreciate the sympathy, but I really dislike the jokes. Stories like Roxane Gay's, whose well-deserved success has been haunted by the people who whispered or sneered "affirmative action" at her, are the reason that this kind of humor falls flat for me. On the underside of these jokes is a thoughtless trivialization of a struggle that no one should have to face, and a mode of discouragement that I certainly have never had to overcome. A story worth your time: